We have invited an active prehistorian from Sicily to set two important events in context: the first conference on Sicilian prehistory held at Corleone and the important exhibition held in Palermo over the last year. Sicily is one of the richest regions of the world for archaeological remains and yet has not received the attention it deserves. This is especially true for prehistory, which has suffered from devaluation by ancient historians such as Moses Finley (1979: 13) — ‘… the Greek settlers found wives among the natives, and also a labour force. Other than that, however, the lasting effects of the pre-Greek populations would not seem to have been very significant’—and where it has often been assumed that everything of worth came from outside. Enrico Giannitrapani presents the emerging consciousness of Sicilians that their island was not founded by the Greeks.

Dr Gordon Ward says that my paper ‘Sutton Hoo-Recent Theories’ is described by me as ‘embodying the official views about Sutton Hoo’ and ‘thus claims very particular authority’. What I said in fact was (op. cit., p. 1) that, since opposite opinions had recently been expressed on certain critical aspects of the find (Pagan or Christian ? Grave or Cenotaph ? English or Swedish ?),’ it is desirable that an official assessment of the issues should be offered to students, even though it cannot be regarded as final’. Anyone who can get into print can say what he likes about Sutton Hoo. Those officially engaged on the study and definition of the material naturally bear a greater responsibility for their utterances. They should also be acquainted with the facts, which not all commentators have been. By ‘official assessment’ I meant no more than that, as a sympathetic reader must at once have seen.

For its importance in throwing light upon a dark period of history, and for the intrinsic beauty and archaeological significance of its contents the Sutton Hoo Ship burial has been rightly described as the greatest find ever made in England. The Ship was fully excavated in July and August 1939, and the treasures found therein were taken to the British Museum, where the most urgent preservative measures were immediately undertaken. During the War these valuable finds were hidden underground. Recently they were returned to the British Museum, where they are now being unpacked, cleaned, and made ready for exhibition. In anticipation of their full publication it has been decided to make a report upon some individual pieces when, from time to time, they become available for exhibition.

In this wonderful century when discoveries and inventions have followed fast on one another’s heels Man seems to look dazed and half comprehendingly at the works of his own hands. So that there are some who say that he is on the brink of new andmore wonderful mastery over Nature ; others that there are no more discoveries to make ; and others again who wish to cry halt, and ask, hopelessly, for ten years’rest from the innovations and disturbances which scientific inquiry is bringing into their world.

The saints in Greece occasionally have curious epithets. In Attica all know St. John the Hunter. In Naxos there is St. George the Drunken and in Thessaly you will find St. Nicholas the Murderer. Now too in Argolis you will hear of St. George the Vampire.

The little church or rather shrine dedicated to that saint is in a kind of open cave which is really the entrance to a Mycenaean rock cut chamber tomb and it lies on the outskirts of the village of Thymari at the base of the tangle of hills at the western foot of Mount Arachnaeus. If you go to the village and visit the shrine you will probably be told fantastic tales of the Vampire and the English archaeologist who was afterwards killed fighting the Bulgarians. The exact circumstances of the case you will probably not be able to discover. Even those of the village most closely connected with the events which led to the dedication of the shrine have allowed more freedom to their imaginations than they should. The village priest Athanasios nowadays is in his dotage and his cups, and not competent to give a credible or even a coherent version of what really took place and the part he played. Evesham himself is dead, because as you know he was killed on the Salonika front in 1917.